Here we discuss sex and politics, loudly, no apologies hence "screeds" and "attitude."

10/23/2014

dark shadows

we're supposed to write about our favorite horror or fantasy shows.

for me, it's 'dark shadows.'

not the movie, but the daytime t.v. show.

kate jackson was on it.

it was a soap opera about barnabus collins and others.

he was a vampire.

the tony geary of his day, in fact. adding barnabus made the show a hit.

'dark shadows' was highly involving and unlike anything else on t.v. at the time.

the show had vampires, witches and werewolves.

gypsy curses.

you name it.

today with 'vampire diaries,' 'the originals' and 'grim,' it's more common to have these type of stories taking place. but back then, except for the anthology shows, you really did not get horror on t.v. other than old movies.

in fact, horror was treated as a joke in 'the munsters' and 'the adams family.'

'dark shadows' was a fantasy show that messed with your imagination and that's why it worked.

Blackwater is in the news again today and it's due to the infamous September 16, 2007 attack in September 16, 2007. From the September 17, 2010 snapshot:

Turning to the issue of violence, Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reported
Sunday that a Baghdad shooting (by private contractors) killed 9 Iraqi
civilians and left fifteen more wounded. Later on Sunday, CNN reported,
"In the Baghdad gun battle, which was between security forces and
unidentified gunmen, eight people were killed and 14 wounded, most of
them civilians, an Interior Ministry official said. Details were
sketchy, but the official said witnesses told police that the security
forces involved appeared to be Westerners driving sport utility
vehicles, which are usually used by Western companies. The clash
occurred near Nisoor square, in western Baghdad. CBS and AP report that
Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, announced
"it was pulling the license of an American security firm allegedly
involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack on a U.S.
State Department motorcade in Baghdad," that "it would prosecute any
foreign contractors found to have used excessive force" in the slaughter
(eight dead, 13 wounded) and they "have canceled the license of
Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory."

Blackwater was a US-based company run by Erik Prince which employed
people as mercenaries. They were sent around the world and within the
United States. But their actions in Iraq garnered the most attention.

The fallout from the September 2007 assault was so bad that Blackwater began a series of name changes.

Today, the four Blackwater employees were convicted in a federal court. Michael Winter (USA Today) reports, "Nicholas Slatten, who fired the first shots in crowded Nisoor Square, was found guilty of first-degree murder. The
three other guards -- Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard -- were
found guilty of multiple counts of voluntary manslaughter, attempted
manslaughter and gun violations." Eliott C. McLaughlin (CNN) notes, "Among those killed were a doctor, a used car salesman, a truck driver, a
businessman, an Iraqi soldier, a gardener, a taxi driver and an
aspiring doctor taking his mother to an appointment, according to
prosecutors."

Dow Jones explains,
"Mr. Slatten faces a life sentence for the murder charge while the
three defendants convicted on manslaughter charges
could face at least three decades in prison. The four defendants were
largely motionless as the charges were read. Lawyers for Messrs. Heard
and Liberty said they
plan to appeal." AP adds, "One of the government witnesses in the case, Blackwater guard Jeremy
Ridgeway, had pleaded guilty to killing the driver's mother, who died in
the passenger seat of the white Kia next to her son."

QUESTION: Can we go back to Iraq --MS. HARF: Yeah.QUESTION: -- and the last war? Four former workers for Blackwater were --MS. HARF: Yes.QUESTION: -- convicted today, three of manslaughter, one of
murder. What message does this send to those in Iraq, those across the
greater Middle East, about the U.S. being able to hold people
accountable for their bad behavior overseas?MS. HARF: Well, we certainly respect the court’s decision in
this case. And as you all probably know, but following the tragedy
there, the Department took a number of steps to strengthen oversight of
private security contractors, such as moving quickly to improve
investigative policies and strengthening procedures for use of force and
less-than-lethal force by security contractors. So again, aren’t going
to have more comment on the court’s decision other than we respect it.QUESTION: But in terms of the U.S.’s reputation, obviously,
Nisour Square was a huge hit for the U.S.’s reputation. Is this verdict
something that this building can point to when engaging with other
countries on – look, if people do something wrong, they can and will be
held accountable?MS. HARF: Well, I don’t think the verdict per se, but the
process and the judicial process we have in this country that we believe
gives everyone access to a fair trial; they are innocent until proven
guilty. And without speaking to the specific outcome in this trial, I do
think that that is a very important tenet of what we do here.QUESTION: Has anyone from this building spoken to anyone in the Iraqi Government about the verdict?MS. HARF: I don’t know. I’m happy to check.QUESTION: In the aftermath of that attack, the Iraqi
parliament passed laws that limited the number of foreign PSDs that were
allowed in Iraq and limited their weapons access, permits, all of that.
Now that this verdict has come back, do you envision a scenario where
the State Department could ask the Government of Iraq to loosen some of
those restrictions?MS. HARF: I can check, but obviously, it’s a very, very different situation today.QUESTION: It is, but I mean, there are still all sorts of NGOs, journalists who need PSDs and weapons --MS. HARF: Let me check.

There was enough to convict without using questionable evidence.
Questionable evidence leads to rulings. On appeal, any charge could be
struck down. Hopefully, the prosecution didn't cut corners or else the
justice many feel was handed out today could be at risk of being pulled
away.

It should also be noted that the four weren't rogue.

They were acting in a manner Blackwater encouraged, in a matter the US government encouraged.

This is not to say the four are innocent or that they should have walked.

This is to note that the guilt didn't stop with the four convicted today.

One of the most famous examples in the book is Faludi taking on Newseek's
'trend story' about how women of a certain age were more likely to be
killed by a terrorist than to get married. The 'support' for that story?
It was a comment a reporter made and that was enough to kick off a
trend story -- a lie spread around the world.

Faludi notes:

The trend story, which may go down as late-20th-century journalism's
prime contribution to the craft, professes to offer "news" of changing
mores, yet prescribes more than it observes. Claiming to mirror public
sentiment, its reflections of the human landscapes are strangely
depopulated. Pretending to take the public's pulse, it monitors only
its own heartbeat -- and its advertisers'.

Trend journalism attains authority not through actual reporting but
through the power of repetition. Said enough times, anything can be
made to seem true. A trend declared in one publication sets off a chain
reaction, as the rest of the media scramble to get the story, too. The
lightning speed at which these messages spread has less to do with the
accuracy of the trend than with journalists' propensity to repeat one
another. And repetition became especially hard to avoid in the '80s, as
the "independent" press feel into a very few corporate hands.

Husna Haq is the latest unable to resist the bait of 'ISIS recruits!'
To Haq's credit, there is no nonsense of trying to turn this into a
'young girls are joining IS!' nonsense we've already seen.

According to CIA estimates,
about 2,000 Westerners have traveled to Iraq and Syria (many via
Turkey) to join ISIS. Of these, more than 100 have come from the US, at
least 500 from the UK, and more than 700 from France, according to
estimates from authorities in those countries.

Oh my goodness!

100 Americans!

That's like a tenth of the country!

Because we only have 1,000 people in the whole country, right?

No, there are 316.1 million people in the United States.

So that's 316,100,000 people and of that huge number 100 have joined the Islamic State.

Are you getting how useless these stories have been?

There is no trend story here.

And with the numbers so small you really could profile everyone in a report.

But it might not carry the alarm and create the frenzy trend stories live to do.

The crowdfunding campaign will run from Oct. 14-Nov. 24, and can be found on Indiegogo, which is one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in the world. Almost $5,000 of the $1 million goal has been raised so far.

“We invite all of our brothers and sisters in Christ to join us and
contribute, from as little as $10, to the crowdfunding campaign that we
have initiated,” stated Eduardo Paz, co-founder of La Filotea
Productions.

Hazim revealed shocking figures to As-Safir about the Orthodox
presence in Iraq. He said only 30 families out of 600 remain in Baghdad;
the rest were displaced following the invasion of Kuwait, and there are
fewer than 10 families left in Mosul.In Iraq’s Basra, all the Orthodox families have been displaced after
members of the families were killed or threatened. Indeed, over 90% of
the Orthodox Christians in Iraq have been displaced due to the security
chaos which has prevailed over the country for the past generation.
Hazim hopes that Erbil, in the Kurdish region of Iraq, would be a haven
for Christians since it looked like a promising region due to the size
of the economic and trade investment, and since it “welcomes our sons
who move there from all over Iraq, Syria and Lebanon,” Hazim said.“The Orthodox confession is recognized in the Iraqi law and
constitution,” Hazim said. “Our situation there is similar to our
situation in Lebanon and Syria. We have two churches, a school, which is
considered one of the most prominent schools in Baghdad, in addition to
a retirement home and an orphanage, a center for sports, cultural and
educational activities.”

San Diego Chaldeans are
pushing back against the suspension of a local priest by Chaldean
patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako in Baghdad. The priest, Noel Gorgis, was
reprimanded for not returning to Iraq as commanded by the patriarch,
months after the majority of Iraq’s Christians fled because of the
brutal religious persecution they faced by terror group Islamic State.

The patriarch reminded the priests and monks in his decree of their vow of “obedience to the superiors” without reservations.

Just 14 priests serve the tens of thousands of Chaldean Catholics who
have emigrated from Iraq to the Western United States. A church leader
in Iraq has suspended seven of those priests, including the Rev. Noel
Gorgis in El Cajon. Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, the head of the church, wants the
Iraqi-American priests who fled violence in Iraq to return home or leave
the church.

San Diego County Chaldeans oppose that and say they will appeal to the Vatican to stop it..

Finally, the Ashraf community in Iraq remains targeted. The Iranian
dissidents take their name from Camp Ashraf which was their home for
many years. They were forced to resettle at Camp Liberty. Today, US
Senator John McCain's office issued the following:

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senator John McCain
(R-AZ) today sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry to raise
concerns about the residents of Camp Liberty, whose lives are
increasingly at risk as the security situation in Iraq, particularly in
Baghdad, continues to deteriorate.“I am writing you to follow-up on the response I received in August
to my previous letter concerning the ongoing refugee resettlement
process and to discuss my continuing concerns about the residents of
Camp Liberty,” writes Senator John McCain. “As you are aware, due
to the increasingly dangerous threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS), the resettlement process has stalled, and many fear that
the people at Camp Liberty could be at grave risk if the security
situation in Iraq, and especially in Baghdad, continues to deteriorate.
For this reason, the Administration must move more quickly to find safe,
permanent, and secure locations for Camp Liberty residents outside
Iraq. I was encouraged to hear about Albania’s willingness to
temporarily host some Camp Liberty residents for purposes of identifying
individuals for relocation to the United States. But, I fear that this
effort is insufficient to adequately safeguard the security of the
remaining residents of Camp Liberty. … Again, I urge you to continue to
push for the protection of the residents of Camp Liberty and to expedite
the refugee resettlement process. We made a commitment to protect these
Iranian dissidents and, as we move forward, I look forward to working
with you to fulfill this commitment.”The signed letter is here and the text of the letter is below.

October 22, 2014The Honorable John KerrySecretary of StateUnited States Department of State2201 C Street N.W.Washington, D.C. 20520Dear Secretary Kerry,I am writing you to follow-up on the response I received in August to
my previous letter concerning the ongoing refugee resettlement process
and to discuss my continuing concerns about the residents of Camp
Liberty.As you are aware, due to the increasingly dangerous threat of the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the resettlement process has
stalled, and many fear that the people at Camp Liberty could be at grave
risk if the security situation in Iraq, and especially in Baghdad,
continues to deteriorate. For this reason, the Administration must move
more quickly to find safe, permanent, and secure locations for Camp
Liberty residents outside Iraq. I was encouraged to hear about Albania’s
willingness to temporarily host some Camp Liberty residents for
purposes of identifying individuals for relocation to the United
States. But, I fear that this effort is insufficient to adequately
safeguard the security of the remaining residents of Camp Liberty.Given deteriorating conditions in Iraq, I believe our current efforts
should focus on the 2,700 residents whose lives are at stake in Camp
Liberty. Some recent events call into question the Iraqi government’s
commitment to uphold its agreements to ensure the safety and well-being
of these residents. In August 2014, the National Council of the
Resistance of Iran accused the Iraqi government of blocking deliveries
of food, fuel, and water to the Camp and making it difficult for
residents to seek medical assistance. And according to statement made
by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Iraqi
Minister of Justice stated that if Iran asked for the extradition of the
residents of Camp Liberty, Iraq would deliver them. As you know,
transfer to Iran could amount to a death sentence for these committed
opponents of the tyrannical regime in Tehran, which has repeatedly
attacked and murdered them inside of Iraq, as recently as last year.
This is especially troubling in light of the appointment of Interior
Minister Mohamed al-Ghabban, who has ties with Shiite militia groups
that are openly hostile to residents of Camp Liberty and loyal to Iran.Clearly, actions need to be taken to ensure the continued safety of
the residents of Camp Liberty. With this in mind, I appreciate your
responding promptly to the following questions:1. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and U.S.
Embassy Baghdad staff have resumed their visits to Camp Liberty. Since
they have resumed their visits, has there been any concern about the
living conditions at Camp Liberty? Please explain your answer.2. Has the Administration investigated allegations that the
Iraqi government has placed harmful restrictions on Camp Liberty and is
denying its residents food, water, and medical aid? If so, please
explain the Administration’s findings. If not, why not?3. If the violence in Iraq continues to escalate, what
further actions will be taken to ensure the safety of the residents?4. What actions are being taken to ensure that the residents
will continue to have access to food, water, and the basic necessities?5. What is the current status of the refugee resettlement
process for the residents of Camp Liberty and when will it be completed?6. Does the Administration require renunciation of the
Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) as a pre-condition before an individual may be
considered for resettlement in the United States?7. What is the status of U.S. efforts to settle some of the Camp Liberty residents in the United States?Again, I urge you to continue to push for the protection of the
residents of Camp Liberty and to expedite the refugee resettlement
process. We made a commitment to protect these Iranian dissidents and,
as we move forward, I look forward to working with you to fulfill this
commitment.Sincerely,John McCainUnited States Senator